Untitled RPG Idea

I had another idea for an RPG today, though I doubt I’ll work on it any time soon, if ever. I don’t know what the title would be, but the subtitle would be along the likes of “The Dystopian Ass-Kicking RPG.” The idea is that the game is set up like a movie along the lines of The Matrix, Equilibrium, Ultraviolet, V For Vendetta, and probably a good number of others I can’t think of right now. The world is screwed up, and the player characters are bad-ass warriors fighting to fix it. Some assorted ideas, any of which could be tossed or mutated:

Have the game be geared towards having a single player, whose character is The One.

Something to make it worth the players’ while to get into weird philosophical stuff.

Make motivations (Violet’s lost daughter, V’s revenge, Neo’s love for Trinity, etc.) play a substantial role in the game mechanics.

Do something to encourage battles that come off as works of art. One of the coolest parts of V for Vendetta was the “Dagger-Time” fight, and almost the entire appeal of Ultraviolet was in the way they set up the fight scenes*. Play with colors, shapes, settings, debris, forms of combat, clothing for the hero, etc., etc.

Play with stakes. Let players make sacrifices and get rewards (e.g., you get X bonus dice for this fight, but your character will definitely die gloriously at the end of it).

And while we’re at it, possibly Dogs in the Vineyard, notably the Button Men-esque action resolution system. RPGs need to pay more attention to other tabletop games in general anyway.

The object of the game, of course, is ultimately for the heroe(s) to figure out who they are and what powers they have and then go and kick the big boss’ ass, whether that happens to be the leader of the dystopia or one of its best henchmen (paging Agent Smith). That’s when the game ends (apart from a brief epilogue), though sequels are possible.

Sometimes I have too much inspiration for my own good. ^_^;

*Ultraviolet may have been substantially better before the studio decided to cut out about 22 minutes of footage against the director’s wishes. And people wonder why Alan Moore hates Hollywood. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a director’s cut. (P.S.: Samuel L. Jackson sez: “We got muthafuckin’ snakes yo!”)